The Northern Illinois Transit Authority is a new regional body overseeing CTA, Metra and Pace. It was created after years of debate over the future of Chicago-area transit.

Since March, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has placed teams of officers — 50 per day, working 12-hour shifts — on the Green and Red lines.

Advocates said the measure and a new Chicago-area leadership board created by it will reimagine the role public transportation plays in the state’s economy and people’s lives.

While Senate Bill 2111 was widely covered for the $1.5 billion it drives to transit throughout Illinois and its governance reforms in the Chicago region, the more than 1,000-page bill outlines a new approach to public transportation.

Illinois lawmakers last week signed off on a sweeping $1.5 billion transit funding package that reshapes how the CTA, Metra and Pace are run and funded. The plan also creates what’s called the Northern Illinois Transit Authority to oversee the transit agencies.

State lawmakers approved new funding for public transportation agencies without large statewide tax increases previously proposed.